Government/Military

[Satellite TODAY 08-19-09] United Launch Alliance (ULA) launched the final GPS 2R-M satellite in a series of U.S. Air Force navigation satellites on Aug. 17, the ULA announced.     A Delta 2 rocket lifted off from launch facilities in Cape Canaveral, Fla., in the early morning, carrying the spacecraft into orbit. The constellation, which constitutes...

[Satellite TODAY 08-19-09] Lockheed Martin updated its contract with Harris Corp. to development wireless networking technology for Increment 3 of the U.S. Army’s Warfighter Information Network-Tactical (WIN-T), Harris announced Aug. 18.     Lockheed Martin will extend the scope of Harris’ work on WIN-T, bringing Harris’ total award value to more than $130 million from 2007...

 [Satellite TODAY 08-18-09] Landsat 5 experienced an anomaly Aug. 13, which rendered the satellite out of control and left the spacecraft’s power at critical levels, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) announced.     The spacecraft was stabilized after the USGS Landsat Flight Operations Team initiated recovery operations. USGS said that the satellite’s power is still at...

[Satellite TODAY 08-17-09] The Ukrainian National Space Agency will launch the Sich-2 land remote sensing satellite in April 2010, the organization announced Aug. 14.     A Ukrainian Dnepr rocket will loft the remote sensing satellite to an orbit of 688 kilometers.     The agency also signed an agreement of cooperation with Canadian aerospace manufacturer MDA...

[Satellite TODAY 08-17-09] U.S President Barack Obama is directing the U.S. National Security Council and the U.S. National Economic Council to undertake a comprehensive review of the U.S. export control system, the White House announced Aug. 14.     The administration study is intended to address issues concerning technologies on the U.S. munitions list and implementation...

[Satellite TODAY 08-13-09] Lockheed Martin broke ground on two new facilities that will support spacecraft programs for government and commercial customers at its Space Systems Company operations in Newtown, Pa., Lockheed Martin announced Aug. 12.     The new facilities include a 17,000-square-foot addition to expand Lockheed Martin’s satellite manufacturing capability at the west end of...

[Satellite TODAY 08-13-09] The UK-DMC2 satellite has commenced operations and is now delivering images, Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. (SSTL) announced Aug. 12.     The satellite, launched July 29, delivered its first images showing the states of Texas and Oklahoma in the United States.     The DMC satellites are specifically designed to image very large areas...

[Satellite TODAY 08-10-09] Telespazio signed a 30 million euro ($43 million) contract with the Polish Ministry of Defense to provide Poland’s military with Italian Sicral 1B space capacity in the UHF band, Telespazio announced Aug. 7.     The Italian operator said the contract, effective for a duration of 10 years, is another step in its...

[Satellite TODAY 08-07-09] The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) and the U.S. Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) have partnered to create a common marketplace for commercial satellite communication acquisitions, the agencies announced Aug. 6.     The two agencies expect to spend more than $5 billion over 10 on commercial communications under the new approach that...

[Satellite News 08-10-09] The U.S. General Services Administration’s (GSA) take-over of the management of $5 billion in commercial satellite service acquisitions for all federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Defense, may exclude some private sector satellite companies from participating in the government market.     The GSA, under the terms of an agreement with the...